tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post114637073890912775..comments2024-03-28T01:33:17.573-04:00Comments on History Is Elementary: So Help Me GodEHThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17964668210604436937noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-19650336404948525122010-01-27T11:08:57.154-05:002010-01-27T11:08:57.154-05:00Submitted for your consideration:
http://themagpi...Submitted for your consideration:<br /><br />http://themagpiemason.blogspot.com/2009/04/so-help-me-god.htmlMagpie Masonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01390264410632162085noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-50320115800443722942008-01-15T22:05:00.000-05:002008-01-15T22:05:00.000-05:00Hi! The 'so help me God' question has been debate...Hi! The 'so help me God' question has been debated just as much as religion question, Hercules. <BR/><BR/>Read my follow-up postings listed below:<BR/>Perhaps you can get some additonal information by reading my follow-up postings listed below:<BR/><BR/>http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/2006/05/mythbusting-so-help-me-god.html<BR/><BR/>http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/2006/11/so-help-me-god-this-so-help-me-god.html<BR/><BR/>sorry for listing them by url....I just don't have time to figure out how to include the hyperlink. :)EHThttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17964668210604436937noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-49809146864161615442008-01-14T21:36:00.000-05:002008-01-14T21:36:00.000-05:00Interesting question. I wish I knew off-hand of an...Interesting question. I wish I knew off-hand of an original source that confirmed this. However, if Washington did not utter those words, than those who are saying that it is a myth that he did say them are obligated to answer the obvious question, which anonymous pointed out above: is the fact that Presidents today say "So Help Me God" after the oath a myth? Apparently not. Well, then, who was the first President to use those words? Any why?<BR/><BR/>Saying "So Help Me God" after oaths is no new thing, btw. As early as the 1780s, those taking the oath for a state govt office were not only ending their oaths with "So Help Me God," but swearing them upon the authority of the Four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, which tell the story of Jesus' life, death, and resurrection)!<BR/><BR/>I know this, because Philip Schuyler (a patriot from my home state of NY) swore such an oath, according to Benson John Lossing, famed historian of the 19th cent. who had contact with Schuyler's children. In his biography of Schuyler, Lossing quotes the full text of the oath which Schuyler swore to be the Surveyor-General of NY:<BR/>"I, Philip Schuyler, do solemnly and sincerely swear, on the Holy Evangelists [that is, the Four Gospels -- Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John] of Almighty God ...[oath continues]... So help me God."<BR/><A HREF="http://quod.lib.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;q1=evangelists;rgn=full%20text;idno=abn9622.0002.001;didno=abn9622.0002.001;view=image;seq=00000429" REL="nofollow">(source)</A><BR/><BR/>So this usage of the phrase was before Washington's presidency. I think I can assume that if one used that phrase for an office so insignificant as the Surveyor-General of a state, that it was used on the higher levels of state govts. This in turn, makes it POSSIBLE, though it does not CONFIRM, that Washington could have taken from this and used it at the end of his Presidential oath, since he was a man of piety (this is not a Myth invented by Weems, check his letters) and certainly had no great trust in his own isolated ability to lead the new nation.Hercules Mulliganhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09359315762800176142noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1164689422697585852006-11-27T23:50:00.000-05:002006-11-27T23:50:00.000-05:00Washington's allegedly 'deep' religious conviction...Washington's allegedly 'deep' religious convictions are probably as conveniently invented as the incident with the cherry tree. As he lay dying, Washington did not request the presence of a priest and specifically asked that no prayers be said for him.<BR/><BR/>Though no proof exists that he was an atheist, I recall that during the American Revolution and other moments of national crisis/drama when Washington was at the helm, he was noted for relying upon reason (in an 'Enlightenment' sense of that expression) rather than any tendency to fall on his knees in search of divine guidance.<BR/><BR/>Even though most teachers now know that the "Father, I cannot tell a lie" tale and the images of Washington prostrating himself to God at Valley Forge are fables, many still repeat them for their supposed moral value - hence the continuation of confusion between the real Washington and the icon-like being who existed only in print.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1161782205307531322006-10-25T09:16:00.000-04:002006-10-25T09:16:00.000-04:00Well, from what I've seen, heard or read of George...Well, from what I've seen, heard or read of George Washington, he was a strong christian man. Being so, I would deem it highly probable that he did say "So help me God". My question is, "Why does it matter?" Many presidents have used that phrase in their inauguration. The real myth is saying that he never uttered those words. That, to me, seems to be the real myth.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20993778.post-1147557776557759452006-05-13T18:02:00.000-04:002006-05-13T18:02:00.000-04:00Thre is more information about Presidential inaugu...Thre is more information about Presidential inauguration oath appending of shmG http://www.nonbeliever.org/commentary/shmG.htmlAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com